(Providence, RI) -- On Wednesday, May 10, 2023, at 11 a.m., Women & Infants Hospital will ceremonially break ground on the Brown University Labor and Delivery Center at Women & Infants Hospital. The plan is to rebuild its top-ranked but outmoded labor and delivery center. The event will mark the first phase in the construction project to build the region’s preeminent labor & delivery center, along with the robust Women’s Health Research Institute. A completion date of December 2024 is expected for this project.
Dimeo Construction Company, a recognized leader in construction projects throughout New England, has been selected to create the space. The project will be comprised of a three-story addition including twenty (20) labor and delivery rooms, as well as nurses’ stations, a staff lounge, a locker room, and management offices.
Once completed, the new unit will enhance birthing options, enlarge delivery rooms, and provide an equitable, state-of-the-art environment in which families can deliver their babies.
The Campaign to Deliver Our Future, the philanthropic effort raising the funds, is proudly led by a very invested, all-woman steering committee. To try to meet the financial obligations of the new building, Women & Infants seeks not only to continue raising capital for this project but to include the entire community in its effort.
“I am so proud of our generous community whose continued philanthropic gifts have made this project a reality for local families. But we still need help. For decades, patients have turned to Women & Infants Hospital for high-quality care, especially in delivering their children safely into the world. But to care for future generations, it is imperative that we upgrade our facilities, so those who trust us to provide them with expert care receive the medically advanced environment they’ve come to expect and deserve from Women & Infants Hospital,” said Shannon Sullivan, president and COO, Women & Infants Hospital.
Among its notable distinctions, Women & Infants Hospital has been recognized as a Baby-Friendly USA hospital. US News and World Report ranked Women & Infants Hospital’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology the 12th best in the nation.
The groundbreaking event will be attended by folks from across our communities, members of Care New England, and Women & Infants Hospital leadership, as well as campaign steering committee members, and representatives from Dimeo Construction Company.
“Our organization has enjoyed a long relationship with Women & Infants Hospital stretching back to the construction of the original hospital. We are excited to be a part of the team on this important state-of-the-art medical and research facility,” commented Brad Dimeo, Chairman, Dimeo Construction Company.
Plans for the new Brown University Labor & Delivery Center include larger rooms to accommodate a greater variety of birthing practices. And, the Women’s Health Research Institute will tackle important projects including much-needed health equity research. Ultimately, the new unit will help meet Women & Infants Hospital’s goal of eliminating disparities of care, as well as elevate every mother’s birthing experience.
Judith Remondi, a Women & Infants Hospital Foundation Board Member, Care New England Board Member, and Chair of the Campaign Steering Committee, has been an avid supporter of Women & Infants Hospital since giving birth to her son twenty years ago. She will be present at the event, shovel in hand, to ceremonially break the first ground.
“I am thrilled to be part of this historic initiative to build a labor and delivery unit commensurate with the exceptional clinical care provided by Women & Infants Hospital. Thus far, we have raised $22 million, but we are not done yet. We need help from everyone in the community to raise the remaining $18 million required for this project. That’s why I urge everyone to participate – by making a charitable gift to the campaign, however large or small. This project is about more than just a new building – it’s about excellence in women’s health, equity and access, and providing a labor and delivery environment that leads to the best outcomes for both mother and baby,” said Remondi.
Learn more about this exciting project and all of our partners here.
About Women & Infants Hospital
Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a Care New England hospital, is one of the nation’s leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns. A major teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology, and newborn pediatrics, as well as a number of specialized programs in women’s medicine, Women & Infants is the ninth-largest stand-alone obstetrical service in the country and the largest in New England with approximately 8,700 deliveries per year. Women & Infants is a Designated Baby-Friendly® USA hospital, a U.S.News & World Report 2014-15 Best Children’s Hospital in Neonatology, and a 2014 Leapfrog Top Hospital. The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology ranked number 11 in U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 Best Medical Schools specialty ranking.
Women & Infants has been designated as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiography; a Center of Excellence in Minimally Invasive Gynecology; Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence in Perinatal Biology and in Reproductive Health by the National Institutes of Health (NIH); and a Neonatal Resource Services Center of Excellence. It is one of the largest and most prestigious research facilities in high-risk and normal obstetrics, gynecology, and newborn pediatrics in the nation, and is a member of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network, Neonatal Research Network, and Pelvic Floors Disorders Network, as well as the National Cancer Institute’s Gynecologic Oncology Group.